


is it too much to ask for something great

by scribbledinstone



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-29
Updated: 2013-11-29
Packaged: 2018-01-03 00:02:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1063276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scribbledinstone/pseuds/scribbledinstone
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Uni AU. Niall loves everybody, but mostly Louis.</p>
            </blockquote>





	is it too much to ask for something great

**Author's Note:**

> This is absolutely the sappiest piece of crap you'll read all day. Oh well, I felt the need for Nouis fic, and this is what happened, so. 
> 
> Thanks to Sam lazy_daze for the excellent Britpick! Any remaining mistakes were kept for the sake of the story. Your suspension of disbelief is appreciated.

Truth be told, Louis Tomlinson is a bit of a mess.

 

He parties too much, bounces around from part-time job to part-time job, drinks and swears and doesn’t eat vegetables. He leaves his dirty dishes in the bathtub and his socks on the table. He sends so much of his precious little money back home that he’s almost always late on the rent (“I’ll get it to you next week, Niall, I _swear_ , if you can just cover me for a while I promise, you have my next paycheck, all of it…”)

 

But for some reason, none of that bothers Niall (well, not too much anyway). Louis is fun and wears cool shoes and he doesn’t eat Niall’s food, so really, what else could Niall ask for in a flatmate?

 

It also doesn’t hurt that Niall’s been harbouring a low-grade attraction to Louis that has steadily built up during their two years of cohabitation.

 

To be fair, Louis is an easy person to have a crush on. He’s gorgeous, for one, and _funny_ , too. Niall has known some funny people in his life, but Louis is absolutely _hilarious._ Niall has a hard time not cracking up at everything that comes out of Louis’ mouth.

 

Except, of course, when he’s putting himself down, which happens far too often for Niall’s liking.

 

“Honestly, Tommo, how many times have we talked about this?” he shouts from the kitchen at his flatmate, who is currently lounging on the couch in (god help him) tiny boxer shorts, and nothing else.  

 

“Bring me a beer, Blondie,” Louis yells back, very much not answering his question. Niall groans, but he grabs two Heinekens out of the fridge anyway, and returns to the couch. He shoves Louis’ feet over so he can sit down, but Louis just plops his feet into Niall’s lap instead.

 

“Gross, mate. Those things are absolutely disgusting,” Niall grumbles, but he hands Louis his beer and does nothing about the situation. “And don’t deflect. Come on, Lou, you’re not stupid. You could do well in uni if you just tried, you know.”

 

“Honestly, you sound like my teachers,” Louis snaps, reaching up to chuck a cushion at Niall’s head, which he narrowly ducks, yelping. “ _Potential_. Yeah right, what do they know about potential? There’s a reason they’re _teachers_ , for god’s sake.”

 

Niall sighs. He’s been trying to get Louis to at least take a tour of the university since he’d seen Louis switch to his third crap job, about two months after he’d moved in with Louis. Louis would come home exhausted and grumpy every day and honestly, could he blame Niall for trying to help? Louis can’t be a waiter forever.

 

Still, he’s been at it for two years, and Niall’s on the brink of giving up. Louis doesn’t like studying, so he says. He seems perfectly happy to live life in the little rut he’s created for himself. And really, who is Niall to tell him how to live his life anyway?

 

“Whatever. FIFA? This is boring.” Niall gestures in the general direction of the television, which is playing a new episode of what has to be the most epically shitty season of X-Factor yet.

 

“It’s not boring. You’re just pressed because there aren’t any cute boybands for you to stare at this year,” Louis teases him, sitting up to grab a controller for the game.

 

“Yeah, well.” Niall can’t exactly protest that statement, because it’s true. “You just want to watch for that one girl from Liverpool, with the big boobs.” Louis just grins and waggles his eyebrows at him.

 

“I like what I like, man. What can I say?”

 

Niall just rolls his eyes and takes out his frustrations on Louis’ crap attitude by kicking his arse at FIFA, yet again. Louis is decent on the field, but when it comes to virtual reality, Niall remains king.

 

Maybe it’s because he’s spent so much of the last two years living inside his own head, berating himself for falling in love with his best friend. It’s not like he hasn’t had other relationships in the meantime. But nothing can compare to what he thinks it’d be like to be with Louis.

 

It probably wouldn’t even be much different. He’d still come home and listen to Louis whine about his day, he’d just be able to kiss him until he felt better. He might even be willing to rub Louis’ disgusting feet, if it meant he got something in return later…

           

“Goal!” Louis shouts, startling Niall out of his reverie. “Where’s your head, mate? It’s like you’re not even trying!”

  
“Erm, nothing. I mean… nowhere.” Niall wants to kick himself in the face. What even is his life right now?

 

He scrambles forward to turn off the console, and then the television. “I’m not feeling it tonight, mate. You can have that round. I’m going to bed.”

 

Louis frowns up at him, looking concerned as Niall feigns a yawn and starts backing away toward his bedroom. “Is this because of what we talked about earlier? Because I know you care, bro, but you really don’t have to worry about me. I’m fine, yeah?”

 

Niall stops by his bedroom door and looks back toward the couch, meeting Louis’ piercing eyes, which are gazing at him from behind his floppy mess of fringe. His heart squeezes painfully in his chest for a moment with how much he cares about the dishevelled boy gracefully reclining in his pants on Niall’s old threadbare couch. He’d found that couch on the side of the road one day, looking like it had seen better days, but Niall had brought it home, fixed it up, made it part of his life.

 

Niall is good like that. He knows not everything is a lost cause, even if it looks like it is at first glance.

 

“Yeah. I mean, no. It’s fine, Louis. I love you just the way you are, you know.” Niall winks at his him, allows himself a cursory glance down at Louis’ sharp hipbones (which contrast so nicely with his soft stomach and nope, those are exactly the kind of thoughts Niall has told himself not to have _ever_ ) and then quickly ducks back into his room, shutting the door firmly behind him.

 

He flops back onto his bed, grabs a pillow to press over his face, and lets out a massive, heartfelt groan.

 

Jesus. He is _fucked_.

  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Alright boys, let’s try it one more time, yeah? I was a bit sharp on that low note, but I think I can do it this time. Give me a B flat, Niall?... Niall? _Niall_?”

 

Niall looks up from where he’s been examining a stain on the carpet. If you squint and tilt your head to the side a bit, it looks kind of like Louis when he’s having a particularly bad hair day. “What? Oh, sorry.” He plucks the note on the guitar he’s cradling in his arms, mentally berating himself for living too much inside his head, _again_. It’s really not his style. Niall lives in the _present_ , he doesn’t daydream. At least, he didn’t up until Louis.

 

But right now, he refocuses on the moment. This is one of the best parts of uni, getting to reserve practice rooms after lectures so he can jam with his other friends studying Music Theory. Niall’s friends are brilliant.

 

Well, Liam might not get the best marks in Theory or Composition, but he’s got a voice like the next Michael Buble, and Niall loves Michael Buble more than most things. Josh is an amazing drummer and a top lad and Sandy is amazing at bass and Niall is positively delighted that he’s getting good enough at guitar to be able to jam with them.

 

Niall thinks his voice isn’t half-bad either. He and Liam having been working on some harmonies and Niall thinks with some practice, they might actually be able to beat the Drama soc at the school-wide Spring Term Talent Show. The first-prize trophy has made itself a seemingly permanent home in the Drama soc’s trophy case. Niall’s looking forward to going head-to-head with them.

 

“From the top! Ready? One, two, three…” Niall snaps back into focus as Josh pounds through the opening beats and Sandy breaks out the beat on his bass, and then Niall joins in with his guitar and Liam starts belting it out and they sound good, really good, and for a moment, Niall is perfectly content with his life.

 

“That was great, boys,” Josh says two hours later, when they’re all flopping gracelessly in their seats. Even Liam, who normally keeps going long after the rest of them finish for the day, looks exhausted, and he’s been drinking even more water than usual. “Same time tomorrow, yeah?”

 

They all murmur their agreement, and then Josh and Sandy are gone, leaving Niall to turn to Liam. “So, drinks tonight? Zayn should be here any minute now.”

           

“I don’t think I should,” Liam says hoarsely, uncapping his water bottle for another round of chugging. “I’ve got a bit of a throat tickle. I really don’t want to ruin my voice before our Vocal Theory assessment.”

 

“That’s not for another two weeks,” Niall says, a bit exasperated with his friend. “Honestly, Liam. One drink. You can even just have a coke and I won’t make fun of you.”

           

 

“Louis will,” Liam says, a bit darkly. 

 

Niall snorts at that. “Since when do you care what Louis thinks?”  

 

“I don’t,” Liam protests unconvincingly, his soft brown eyes going wide. He does, and Niall knows it. Liam wants everyone to like him, and to be fair, most people do. Niall isn’t really sure what Louis’ problem is in this regard. He’s spent many evenings recounting all of Liam’s virtues to Louis, and all he gets back is a general, “I dunno, mate, he seems a bit stiff to me.”

 

No matter. Niall will wear him down. Niall needs both of them, and therefore all of them _will_ be friends.

 

There’s a soft knock on the door. Niall looks around to see Zayn there, blinking sleepily at them. Niall starts a bit at the sight of him. Zayn always looks good, of course, but tonight he’s really gone all out. His hair is gelled up, and he’s got his ‘special occasions only’ leather jacket on, and his look is somehow more smoulder-y than usual.

 

“Ready?” he asks. Niall turns to Liam and shoots him a meaningful look. Liam sighs and finally shrugs.

 

“Fine, but you better keep Louis off my back,” he shoots at Niall. He turns to lock the door to the practice room behind him as the three of them walk out together.

 

“Louis bothering you again?” Zayn asks Liam with a slight smile. “Want me to beat him up for you?”

 

“What? No, of course not,” Liam says, pulling his jacket on as they exit the music building and start heading toward the bar. “I just wish I knew what it was he didn’t like about me, you know?”

 

“Hmm,” Zayn says noncommittally, throwing a sharp glance at Niall. For some reason, Niall thinks it’s probably time to change the subject.

 

“So what’s with the getup?” he asks Zayn quickly. “You trying to impress somebody?”

 

Zayn coughs a bit awkwardly, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “Well, actually, I kind of asked Perrie if she might want to meet us tonight.” He pulls out a packet of cigarettes and fumbles with his lighter, not meeting their eyes. Niall looks at Liam over his shoulder and grins. Zayn doesn’t get awkward for just anybody, but he turns into a bit of a mess around the pretty blonde girl.

 

Niall’s been quietly rooting for the two of them since he’d met Zayn nearly a year ago. He’d tried to hit on Zayn in a campus coffee shop after they’d been surreptitiously making eye contact with each other for a while from across the room. Niall had finally got up the courage to go talk to the beautiful boy and had waded through a sea of tables and carelessly strewn backpacks to sit by Zayn.

 

“What’ve you got there?” he’d asked with little preamble, trying to look down at the paper Zayn had been scrawling on for the past hour, but Zayn cautiously pressed the notebook against his chest.

 

“Erm, don’t let this freak you out,” he’d said in his syrupy voice and wow, Niall could listen to him talk all day. Maybe he was good at singing. He should ask. “…But, I drew a picture of you.”

 

Niall had blinked in surprise. “Of me? Why?”

 

“You’re fun to draw,” Zayn said, smiling shyly. He shrugged and looked down, practically whispering, “You’re cute.”

 

Niall was equal parts astonished and delighted. “Well? Let me seen, then!”

 

Zayn had handed over the paper and… well, it was good. Really good. Niall still has that on the fridge in his and Louis’ flat along with all the other ones Zayn’s done for him over the past year.

 

He and Zayn had talked for hours that day. Niall learned that in addition to being the most talented artist Niall had ever met, he was also doing English Literature, he was from Bradford, he had three sisters (“Three? No way! My mate Louis has four, you should meet him, he’s great”), and that he was very much in love with a girl he’d met in a Sociology module last term.

 

Niall had been a bit disappointed to learn that they actually hadn’t been flirting, but he obligingly flipped through the Facebook pictures of Perrie that Zayn showed him and agreed that she was indeed very pretty. Zayn got all cute and flustered when he talked about her, and Niall thought probably everyone should be with someone who made them all flustered like that.

 

Anyway, it had all worked out in the end. Niall had got Zayn’s phone number after their initial meeting and had texted him incessantly until Zayn agreed to come over to the flat for a boy’s night of beer and video games.

 

It was perfect. He was like the missing piece Niall hadn’t known their group so badly needed. Louis brought Zayn out of his shell, and Zayn and Liam formed this bond of understanding that no one else could come close to. Niall thinks their group dynamic is pretty much perfect, which makes him all the more anxious not to change it by having rather inconvenient _feelings_ about one of its members.

 

Now, Perrie was waiting for them by the entrance to the bar, and as usual Zayn loses his shit at the sight of her. He drops his barely-smoked cigarette to the ground and he fumbles around with the book he’s had tucked under his arm the whole time. _The Old Man and the Sea._ Christ, he’d brought a book to a _bar_? Who is he trying to fool? Niall tries not to laugh at his friend’s expense. Perrie spots them and waves cheerfully. “Zayn!” she calls out. “Over here!”

 

“What are you doing, mate, she’s waiting for you,” Niall hisses at him, unceremoniously shoving Zayn in her direction.

 

“Good luck,” Liam calls after him, ever the supportive one. They watch as Zayn and Perrie do their standard ‘are we hugging or are we shaking hands or what’ dance, which eventually ends with Perrie giggling and tucking her arm through Zayn’s elbow, tugging him in through the door. Niall rolls his eyes. Seriously, a whole _year_ of this.

 

“It’s a good thing they’re both pretty,” Niall mutters, steering Liam into the bar.

 

“Niall, be nice,” Liam admonishes him, but luckily the music is too loud for him to keep lecturing.

 

The bar is well known for being the cheapest in town. It’s also perhaps the most badly designed. In order to get to the booths and tables in the back, one has to traverse the dark, sticky dance floor. Their jam session had run later than usual tonight, which meant most people were on their third or fourth round already. The floor was crammed with groups of giggling, shouting girls, the usual hordes of somewhat creepy men who always gathered around to watch them, and couples grinding on each other without even a semblance of shame. Niall fumbles around for Liam, his throat going dry from the thought of shoving his way through the masses.

 

Luckily, Liam instantly understands Niall’s claustrophobia, and he knows the best way to deal with it by now. He takes Niall’s hand and smiles at him reassuringly. “It’s all right, mate, I’ve got you,” he shouts over the music, gently tugging Niall’s hand to make him start moving.

 

Liam parts the crowd fairly easily, and Niall floats along in his wake, trying not to think about the bodies pressed against him on all sides. They finally make it to the other side and Niall takes a deep breath, relieved.

 

“Wasn’t so bad, was it?” Liam asks him cheerfully, as he makes his way toward their usual booth in the very back. Niall can see the back of Louis’ head from here, and his excitement at seeing his best friend manages to quell any remains of Niall’s uneasiness.

 

“Yeah, thanks Li, you’re—“ He cuts himself off as they get closer to the table and Niall sees that there’s another figure on the bench next to Louis, though Niall can’t quite make out any features yet. “Who’s that?”

 

“Dunno.” They sidestep around the remaining tables and eventually arrive at the booth. Niall sucks in a breath at what he sees.

 

Louis is sitting close to—well, practically on top of—a boy with a long torso and curly hair. He’s smiling and looking up from under his long lashes. They don’t notice at first as Liam and Niall come up to the booth. The curly-haired boy reaches out and gently moves a strand of hair off Louis’ forehead.

 

Liam clears his throat very loudly and suddenly. Louis and the other boy’s heads snap around to see the pair in front of them. “Oh! Hey boys,” Louis says, looking surprised and vaguely guilty. His eyes travel down to where Niall realizes his and Liam’s hands are still linked. Niall drops Liam’s hand like it’s on fire.

 

For a long moment, they just keep standing there, and Louis and the boy keep staring. Then Niall realizes the curly-haired boy is actually speaking.

 

“Um, hi. I’m Harry?” His voice rises on the last syllable, making it sound like a question.

 

“Right! Introductions!” Louis says in that loud, fake-cheerful voice he’s prone to using when he’s uncomfortable. “Why are you two still standing? Sit! We already bought the first round. It’s been here a while, though, you boys have been ages.”

 

“Right,” Liam repeats slowly, glancing back at Niall before sliding into the booth. “Well, our jam session went a bit longer than usual. Suppose we were in the zone. I’m Liam, by the way, very nice to meet you.”

 

He offers Harry his hand over the table. Harry shakes it solemnly. Watching Liam meet new people is always fun. He seems to have a rather sobering effect on people, at least initially.

 

But right now, as Niall slides into the booth next to him, he can’t really enjoy it. There’s something that feels weirdly off about the situation. Why was Louis sitting so close to the boy, and _looking_ at him like that?

 

But it’s none of Niall’s business, he decides, so he tries to push past it and plasters a big smile on his face. “Harry, was it? Great name. I’m Niall, this one’s flatmate.”

 

“Niall,” Harry repeats, smiling. “Yes, I’ve heard all about you.” Niall squints at him, wondering if he’s high or something. Most people don’t talk quite that slow, usually. Oh well, also none of his business.

 

Everyone seems to be at a bit of a loss of what to say. Luckily, Zayn chooses to make an appearance at that moment. “Perrie ditched me to meet her girlfriends,” he grumbles, squeezing onto the bench next to Niall. “Who’s this then?”

 

After another round of introductions, Zayn asks Harry where’s he from, and they’re all subjected to a rather long and roundabout story that basically seemed to amount to the fact that Harry is originally from Cheshire, and eventually ended up here to study Psychology.

 

It takes him an absurdly long time to get to the point, but Louis is gazing at Harry the whole time, hanging onto his every word. The rest of them listen with varying degrees of patience. Niall wants him to finish so he can pepper them with more questions, such as exactly when and how they met, and most importantly what Louis had told Harry about him. But when Harry finally trails off, Niall can’t quite seem to form words over the lump that’s mysteriously formed in his throat. He chugs half his beer instead to see if that’ll make it go away. It doesn’t.

 

When he refocuses, Louis is telling the story of how he’d met Harry that afternoon in the quad.

 

“Stan and I were playing a game of footie and I accidentally kicked the ball at this one,” he says, shooting an apologetic smile at Harry. “Think I might’ve interrupted his meditation session.”

 

Harry laughs, a deep, throaty laugh that Niall can only describe as seductive. “You did, a bit. But when I saw who had done it, I didn’t mind so much,” and holy shit, did Louis just _blush_ at his words? Since when did _Louis Tomlinson_ start blushing?

 

Just then, Harry’s phone buzzes, and he picks it up and looks at it, brow furrowed in consternation. “Ah, no, it’s my mate Nick. He’s the radio DJ for the school station, you know? The late-night show. Absolutely brilliant. Anyway, he’s in a bit of a tiff with his boyfriend. I think he doesn’t like Nick’s new cat, or something. I’ve got to go see if I can sort him out.”

 

It takes a moment for Louis to process all that information, but when he does, he immediately frowns and starts pouting ridiculously at Harry. Niall knows that face all too well—it’s the same one Louis adopts when Niall begs him to _please_ do the washing up, just this once. Niall usually ends up doing the washing up.

 

But Harry just shifts around and leans in to give Louis a warm hug, which Louis positively melts into.

 

Niall can’t quite believe what he’s seeing. Louis is as affectionate as they come, but usually he shows it through arm punches, wrestling matches, hair ruffling, and back-pounding bro-hugs. Niall had had to put up with that for _months_ before earning cuddling privileges.

 

“It was nice to meet you boys,” Harry says politely in their direction, before sliding off the booth and ambling off, and _fuck_ but those are some tight jeans. How is he even walking right now? Louis stares after him, looking a bit awestruck.

 

“Isn’t he incredible?” he says, once Harry is out of sight. “We’ve been talking all afternoon. I know I just met him but I feel like I’ve known him for ages.” He grins down into his drink, then looks up when he realizes none of the boys have replied.

 

Niall glances quickly between them. Liam just looks confused. Zayn, on the other hand, looks tight-lipped and a bit angry. Niall also realizes that Zayn’s hand is now resting on Niall’s leg, gently squeezing him right above the knee.

 

“What,” Zayn asks, voice oddly flat, “was that about?”

 

“Come again?” Louis asks, puzzled.

 

“You know exactly what I mean.” Zayn’s gaze at Louis is piercing and almost accusatory. “The… the flirting. The staring. The touching. That was practically _obscene_.”

 

Louis stares right back, looking shocked. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. He was just being nice. He’s sweet.”

 

 _Sweet?_ Niall can’t remember the last time Louis referred to someone as sweet, much less another boy. But he agrees with Zayn. That was definitely more than friendly chatter.

 

But… Louis doesn’t flirt with boys. If Louis liked boys, then maybe Niall would have a chance, but he doesn’t. So Niall has to keep quiet. That’s the way it’s been for two years now. Right?

 

“But—“ Zayn tries to continue, but Niall abruptly cuts him off. Something inside him feels very cold and tight all of a sudden, and he doesn’t like the feeling. He doesn’t like it at all.

 

“Sorry boys, I’m just not feeling up to this tonight. Move please?” Niall asks, voice coming out a bit more high-pitched than intended. He prods Zayn in the side until he stands up to let Niall out.

 

Louis immediately scrambles out of the booth after him. “Wait, Niall, I’ll go with you.”

 

Niall whips around, eyes wide. “No, Louis, it’s okay, stay here.”

 

“But if you’re not feeling well—“

 

“I’m fine, just tired. I have an early lecture tomorrow.” It’s a lie, but Louis won’t know that. Louis doesn’t tend to pay much attention to when Niall leaves and comes back.

 

“Are you sure?” Louis is still looking at him with concern in his eyes.

 

“Yeah. Stay. Maybe Harry will come back.” Niall’s not sure what makes him say that, but he sees the way the thought brightens Louis’ face up again, and the coldness inside his stomach seems to spread.

 

“Right. Well. Bye.” Niall turns and leaves without looking back, shoving blindly through the crowd, which has become even rowdier during his short time sat at the booth. He doesn’t realise he’s fighting back tears until he pushes out in to the cold of the night, and all of a sudden, he feels the wetness on his face. He stops to take a few breaths when he feels a hand on his shoulder.

 

He turns around, and Zayn is there, eyes wide with consternation, and he’s holding out his arms for Niall. Niall doesn’t even hesitate, he just throws himself at Zayn and lets his friend hold him up while he cries quietly into the leather of his jacket.

  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You don’t have to stay,” Niall says quietly as they approach the door of Niall and Louis’ flat.

 

“Can’t get rid of me that easily,” Zayn says, smiling a bit crookedly at Niall. “I think we need to talk.”

 

“I don’t want to talk,” Niall says, fumbling to get his key in the door. Zayn sighs and runs his hand through his gelled-up hair. Niall finally manages to get the door open and pushes through it, making a beeline for the couch and collapsing facedown into it.

 

He hears Zayn come in, closing the door behind him, and then there’s the sound of footsteps and gentle hand on the back of Niall’s neck. “Please, Niall. Just talk to me.”

 

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

 

Zayn gently tugs at the hair on the back of his neck until Niall finally looks up at him. “I think there is. Budge.”

 

Niall curls up on his side, making room for Zayn by his feet. Zayn rests a hand on his calf, a quiet reminder that he’s still there. Zayn just waits, and waits, and finally, more to fill the silence than anything, Niall blurts out, “Do you think Louis is straight?”

 

Zayn stares at the blank television across from them. He seems to form his words carefully before speaking. “I don’t know, mate. I don’t think anyone can answer that except him. Have you ever asked?”

 

“I…” Niall falters, and racks his memory. “I mean, I don’t need to. He’s never mentioned it before. He’d tell me, right? If he wasn’t?”

 

“Maybe not. Maybe he was afraid of how you’d react.”

 

“Of what? Me?” Niall sits up at the thought. “But… he’s always been cool with my sexuality. It’s never been a problem before. Not once. Why would he think I’d think any differently of him?”

 

Zayn looks at him with such intense pity in his eyes that Niall has to look away. “That’s not really the problem, then, is it?”

 

Niall doesn’t answer. He doesn’t know what to say.

 

“Niall, just say it. Put it in words. It’ll make you feel better.”

 

“Put what in words?” Niall replies dully, but he knows what’s coming.

 

“You’re in love with Louis.”

 

Niall freezes at Zayn’s words. He’d spoken them so plainly and clearly, as if there could be no denying it. Christ, had he really been so obvious? He’d tried so hard to keep his feelings in check.

 

“I… how’d you know?” he asks softly, trying not to cry again.

 

“Oh, babe,” Zayn actually chuckles a bit, but it’s sad, not teasing. “The way you look at him. I’m pretty sure even Liam was starting to realize, and that boy’s about as thick as they come.”

 

“Hey,” Niall feels the need to stick up for his friend, even in his current state of somewhere between panic and complete self-loathing. “Liam’s amazing.”

 

“I never said he wasn’t,” Zayn says. “But this isn’t about him.”

 

“Right,” Niall says, squeezing his eyes shut as if that will help keep out his own feelings. “It’s about me. And how Louis will probably never love me. I mean, did you see how he was looking at Harry?”

 

“Yeah.” And now Zayn’s voice has a tinge of anger in it again. “He shouldn’t have done that. That wasn’t cool.”

 

“What do you mean?” Niall peeks through one eye at him.

 

“Never mind.” Zayn abruptly gets off the couch, stretching his arms over his head and yawning. “Fuck, I’m exhausted. Dealing with the drama of emotionally stunted idiots is not my thing. You’re lucky I love you.”

 

“I love you too,” Niall replies automatically, even though his brain is completely elsewhere. Zayn looks down at him in surprise and chuckles again, softer this time. He reaches out to ruffle Niall’s hair.

 

“I know. Get some sleep, yeah? We’ll work this out. I promise.” Zayn gives him a reassuring smile and turns back toward the door. For a moment, Niall is tempted to ask him to stay, but thinks better of it. He needs a night to wallow in his own pathetic feelings and self-pity.

 

Zayn lets himself out and Niall stays on the couch for a while before finally pulling himself together enough to brush his teeth, change into pajamas, and fall into bed. He checks his phone for the first time since leaving the bar and sees he has two texts. The first is from Liam.

 

_Come baaack whyd you leave me with lou :(( I DON’T KNWO WHAT 2 SAYYY_

 

And then one from Louis:

 

_Hope ur ok luv u xxx_

 

Niall is somewhat tempted to throw his phone across the room, but he decides better of it. He just switches it to “off” and rolls over on his side, and he’s asleep within minutes.

  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Niall probably should’ve spent the night tossing and turning in anguish, but instead he sleeps like a log until late the next afternoon. Maybe his body is tired of doing just that. God knows he’s had enough sleepless nights the last two years to last him a lifetime.

 

He shuffles into the kitchen to make himself tea and is surprised to see Louis there, hair neatly styled, his uniform shirt tucked neatly into his khaki trousers. Niall can’t really keep track of what he’s doing now. He thinks maybe delivering something. Paper? Printers? Some other kind of office supply? Anyway, it doesn’t matter. It’s just another terrible part-time job in a long string of other terrible part-time jobs.

 

“Hey!” Louis says, looking up from the paper he’s reading on the table. He frowns at Niall’s dishevelled sleep attire. “Were you too ill to go to lecture this morning?”

 

Niall scrambles to remember what he’s talking about. “Oh. Um. Yeah, I was. Better now, though,” he mumbles, shuffling to the sink to fill up the kettle.

 

“Are you sure?” Louis gets out of his seat and crosses the floor, reaching out to touch Niall’s forehead. Niall feels like he should duck away, but Louis’ hand is soft, and cool, and _fuck his actual life_.

 

“I’m fine,” he grits out. “I don’t need mother-henning, alright?”

 

Louis’ hand drops instantly. “Right. Sorry.” He rather abruptly returns to his spot at the table.

 

Niall closes his eyes and counts to ten, silently praying for some empathy. Ok, fine. So maybe Louis isn’t as straight as he thought he was. That doesn’t mean he’s obligated to like Niall. This doesn’t have to be awkward. He’s been best friends with Louis for two years now and that’s not going to change just because of a cute curly-haired boy and a weird night in a bar.

 

“So. How was the rest of last night?” he asks as casually as he can, reaching for the box of teabags in the cupboard.

 

“Oh! Good!” Louis looks up, a bit surprised. “I actually ended up at Harry’s. We watched films til four in the morning. A load of his friends were there, too. They were an interesting group. That Nick was bit of a whiner, though. Wouldn’t stop going on about his ex the whole evening.”

 

“Really,” Niall replies, a bit stiffly, until he has a sudden thought. “Wait, what did Liam do?”

 

“Oh yeah, that was the best part! He came with me,” Louis says with a laugh.  Niall can’t quite comprehend what he’s hearing.

 

“Liam came with you. To Harry’s party,” he repeats dumbly.

 

“Yeah, it was brilliant! You know, I think I’m starting to like the lad. He had a bit too much to drink and ended up snogging some girl in the toilet by the end of the night.”

 

Niall’s jaw actually drops at that information. “What? That doesn’t sound like Liam at all. Is he okay?”

 

“Okay?” Louis looks at him disbelievingly. “He’s more than okay. That’s probably the most fun he’s had in his entire life. I put him in a cab and sent him home by the end of the night. Alone, in case you’re worried about that too.”

 

“I’m not _worried_ ,” Niall replies, a bit stung. “It’s just… out of character.”

 

“Yeah, I thought so too,” Louis says, with a shrug. “Suppose our little boy’s growing up, eh?” He stands up and drains the last of the tea from his mug, starting toward the kitchen door. Before he leaves, though, he stops and turns around. “Are you sure you’re okay with that?”

 

Niall stares at him. “Okay with what?”

 

Louis gives him a knowing look. “Liam. Snogging a girl.”

 

Niall’s completely confused at this point. “Um. Yeah? I mean, like I said, it’s weird for him. But why would I not be okay with it?”

 

 

Louis opens and closes his mouth a few times. He looks suddenly unsure of himself. “Um. Well. Because of you two?” Niall just keeps staring, waiting for him to go on. “You know. The fact that you spend all your time together? The way you talk about him like he’s the greatest human being on the planet? The hand-holding? I just thought… I don’t know. There might be something there. I was a bit surprised Zayn went after you last night instead of him, actually.”

 

Niall still can’t quite believe what he’s hearing. Is Louis _actually_ this stupid?

 

“But I don’t… I mean, I’ve never felt that way about Liam,” Niall says, trying not to let his voice shake as he speaks. “Not ever.”

 

“Oh,” Louis says, and is it Niall’s imagination or does his voice sound a bit funny, too? “Right. Well then. I’ve got to get to work. Have a good day, yeah?”

 

And he’s gone.

  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Niall feels like he’s in a haze for the rest of the day. He barely soaks anything in during his one evening lecture. He shows up for the jam session almost an hour late, because he’d lost track of time wandering around campus just generally trying to process the events of the past 24 hours.

 

To his surprise, Niall runs into Liam outside the door of the practice room. Liam looks a bit pale and his eyes are bloodshot.

 

“Liam, you’re late?” Niall asks, amazed. That has to be a first. “And you look terrible. What’s wrong?”

 

“Erm, I think I’m a bit hungover,” Liam says, sounding apologetic. “I mean, I’ve never been before, but that’s what it’s called when you drink too much and feel like shit the next day, right?”

 

“Oh Liam,” Niall says, trying not to laugh. “I really, really don’t think we should practice today.”

 

“No, I can do it,” Liam insists, pushing open the door to reveal Josh banging on the drums and Sandy trying out some absurd riff on his bass. Liam positively cringes and pulls back, slamming the door after him, which just makes him cringe again. Niall feels terrible for bursting into laughter at that, but god, he’s adorable.

 

“Go wait outside, yeah?” Niall suggests once his mirth has subsided. “I’ll be out in a minute.”

 

He apologizes to Josh and Sandy for cancelling the session without notice, but luckily they’ve both been in the same boat far more times than Liam, and they can’t be too angry about it. He joins Liam, who’s lying down in a patch of grass outside the music building, looking utterly defeated.

 

“Louis told me about last night,” Niall says, flopping down next to him and gently nudging his shoulder. “Sounds like you went a bit wild there for a minute.”

 

“I didn’t know what to _say,”_ Liam groans. “I told you not to leave me alone with Louis. I just felt so awkward. But I couldn’t leave, you know? He kept sitting there, staring at me all expectantly, like I was supposed to entertain him or something. So I just kept drinking to take the pressure off. I was pretty far gone by the time we got to that party, and then there was that girl, and I barely remember her, and… Uggghh.” He curls up in the fetal position and Niall’s a bit afraid he’ll be sick again, but luckily he pulls it together in time.

 

Niall gently reaches out to pat his head. Liam seems comforted by the gesture, so Niall keeps doing it, leaning in closer so he can pet his hair.

 

“Poor Leemo,” he says sympathetically. “Your first hangover is never fun. Well, none of them are fun. But especially that one. Oh! Want to know something crazy?” Liam cracks an eye open, which Niall takes to mean yes. “Louis thought we were together. You know, because of the band, and us holding hands last night. Isn’t that funny?”

 

Liam stares at him. “You and me? Together?”

 

“Yeah,” Niall says, chucking weakly.

 

“But… I thought you liked Louis?”

 

 

Niall’s hand drops from Liam’s head and he turns away from his friend. Fuck, he did know after all. Niall sighs. He doesn’t really want to talk about this anymore.

 

“Yeah. I do. But he thought I liked you, and now he likes Harry, so. I don’t think it matters much.”

 

“What? No, I don’t think so.”

 

Niall snaps around to look at Liam. “You don’t think so? Why?”

 

 

Liam sits up and looks at him thoughtfully. “Well, from what I remember of the party—I know it’s not much, but I do have snippets—Louis seemed to be giving Harry advice on how to go after Nick. You know, how long to wait after a breakup, things like that. I think he and Harry are just really close friends.”

 

Niall’s brain whirls around with that information for a moment. “But… they just met yesterday afternoon.”

 

Liam laughs. “Yeah, I know. I suppose they just got on from the word ‘go’, you know? It happens.”

 

Niall sinks back into the ground. “Oh. So. It’s just me, then.”

 

“I don’t know about that either, mate,” Liam says, and now he’s looking at Niall all soft and fond and Niall doesn’t quite know what to do with _that_ , either. He’s never spent quite so much time feeling this confused in his life.

 

“You mean… You think I have a chance?” Niall asks, trying to keep the pathetic hope he feels inside out of his voice.

 

“I think you need to talk to him,” Liam replies, and he reaches out for Niall, giving his hand a squeeze. “Maybe like. Right now.”

 

“Oh. Um. Okay.” Niall hoists himself off the ground, then helps Liam onto his feet. “Thanks, Li,” he says finally, tugging Liam into a hug. Liam returns it, gently rubbing his back, and Niall buries his head in Liam’s neck. He’s not sure what exactly he did to deserve friends this amazing, but whatever, he’ll take it.

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Liam says, and he pushes Niall off with a grin. “Go get him.”

  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At first, Niall rushes to get home, but as he gets closer he starts to slow down more and more until he’s practically crawling. ‘Go talk to Louis.’ Sure, easy for Liam to say. What the hell is Niall supposed to talk to him about, though? The fact that Louis doesn’t love him back? That doesn’t sound awful and potentially friendship-ruining at all.

 

Niall finally reaches the door and takes his time turning the doorknob. When he enters, though, it’s not quite to the scene he’s expecting. The smoke alarm in the living room is chirping and smoke is in fact rather alarmingly pouring in through the kitchen door. Niall can hear the faint sound of clattering and a litany of swear words coming from the kitchen.

 

“Shit, fuck, Niall, is that you? Don’t come in here. Everything’s under control, I promise.”

 

“Louis?” Niall asks, rushing toward the kitchen. “What happened? Are you okay?”

 

“No—don’t—I—“

 

Niall finally reaches the doorway to see Louis standing there, holding a fire extinguisher and looking a bit dazed. The oven is open and the charred remains of something that might have been meat are blackened and sizzling inside a baking dish. Louis’ hair and shirt are covered in smears of grease and various baking ingredients Niall can’t quite place.

 

“Louis? What the fuck is going on?” Niall asks.

 

“I was trying to cook dinner,” Louis said, setting the fire extinguisher down on the counter with a loud clunk.

 

“You were cooking,” Niall repeats. “You’ve never cooked. You can barely make toast.”

 

“I know!” Louis says, frustrated. He stomps over to the kitchen table and throws himself in a chair, huffing. “Harry was supposed to help me. Well, he was supposed to do the whole thing, actually, but then Nick’s stupid cat got a hairball and he had to go running over to his to help. As if Harry’s the bloody cat whisperer or something.”

 

“Okay,” Niall says slowly, starting to get a clearer picture now. “And what exactly was Harry supposed to be making?”

 

Louis groans, buries his head in his arms. “Chicken parm,” Niall barely makes out from his muffled voice. “Wrapped in ham.”

 

“So… He was just going to make you dinner then?” Niall asks, his stomach sinking. “Like… a date?”

 

Louis’ head snaps up at that. “What? No. It was for you.”

 

Niall’s stomach stops sinking and starts leaping. It’s all very uncomfortable. “For me? Why were you making dinner for me?”

 

“I don’t know. To apologize, I suppose? For being an awful flatmate? And for always being late on rent. And for leaving my dirty socks on the table. That’s just unsanitary. I know I shouldn’t, but for some reason I keep doing it, and for some reason you put up with me. You’ve put up with me for two years. And you genuinely care about me, even when I ignore you about going to uni or whatever, and you’re so…” Louis trails off, and he’s looking at Niall with this intensity Niall’s never seen before from him, except maybe when Louis is playing football. “You’re just a good person, you know that? You make my life better. You make everybody’s life better.”

 

Niall is choking up a bit, partly from the thick smoke still wafting around the room, but mostly because of Louis. “Wow… I don’t know what to say. You’ve never told me that before.”

 

“I know. And I should have. I love you, Niall.”

 

They’ve said it before, of course, thrown the phrase around like it’s nothing, but right now, it doesn’t mean nothing. It means everything. And there’s a tinge of hope to it, like Niall will understand what Louis means by it.

 

And then, Niall does. Everything is starting to make sense.

 

Suddenly, Niall feels like he and Louis are too far apart. He crosses the kitchen in a few strides and wraps himself around Louis, squeezing himself onto the chair next to him.

 

“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Louis Tomlinson,” Niall murmurs, his mouth pressed against Louis hair. Louis pulls back to meet his eyes. Their faces are so close. Louis tilts his head a bit and Niall’s heart thumps helplessly in his chest.

 

They move in closer, and then they’re kissing, and it’s their first kiss and it’s in a smoke-filled kitchen with a smouldering chicken in the oven and a smoke alarm still beeping incessantly in the living room and it’s absolutely perfect.

 

Finally, they break apart. Niall takes a deep, shaky breath and looks Louis in the eyes. Louis smiles at him and it’s like all the pieces fall into place. “Louis?” Niall asks.

 

“Yeah Niall?” Louis replies, a bit nervously.

 

“What do you say we clean this mess up and order a pizza? I’m _starving_.”

  
  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“To two years,” Zayn proclaims, hoisting his cup into the air, “of complete stupidity and wasted time.”

 

“Hear hear,” Liam cheers, downing his shot in one go.

 

“Liam! I wasn’t done!” Zayn scolds him. “And!” he continues. “To two months of success, followed by many, many more.”

 

“Hear hear!” Liam refills his shot glass with tequila and downs that one, too. Well. Let no one ever say Liam Payne is an underachiever.

 

“Seriously though, I’m happy for you guys,” Zayn says, directing his words at the armchair Niall and Louis are currently attempting to share. This involves a lot of Niall trying to tickle Louis and Louis squirming around and elbowing him. Neither of them bothers getting up, though.

 

“Yeah, you two are adorable,” Harry coos, positively beaming at them from his stance in the doorway, and Niall can’t quite believe he was ever jealous of Louis and Harry. He absolutely loves Harry now, and he sees why Harry and Louis are really great friends. Louis is always patient in guiding Harry through his rocky budding relationship with his late-night DJ lover. Still, Niall has faith Nick and Harry will pull their shit together eventually. Crazier things have happened.

 

“I can’t believe all my friends are in relationships,” Liam grumbles, pulling the bottle of tequila toward him again.

 

“Don’t worry, Li,” Zayn says, coming up behind him and wrapping his arms gently around his drunk friend’s waist. “At least you seem to be over your fear of women now.”

 

“Excuse me Zayn, I was never afraid of women,” Liam slurs his words a bit as he twists around, trying to look at Zayn. “I was afraid they wouldn’t _like_ me. It’s a big difference.”  

 

“Well, on that note, before we all get as shitfaced as our good friend Liam here,” Louis says, turning his head to give Niall a quick peck before clambering off his lap, “I have a bit of an announcement to make.”

 

He addresses the room at large, but his eyes stay fixed on Niall as he takes a deep breath and continues. “I’ve filled out my application and talked to some people and, if I can work out a few paperwork things, I’ll be going to join uni just before the start of spring term. Um. In the Early Childhood Education program.” He stands nervously as the rest of the boys sit there in silence. “Anyone? Any thoughts on that? No? Okay.”

 

He moves to sit back down, but before he can, all hell breaks loose. Harry lets out a whoop and crosses the room, wrapping himself around Louis’ back. Niall jumps into his arms in front, nearly knocking the three of them over, but luckily by that time Liam and Zayn have made it over and they stabilize them by joining the crazy mess of a group hug in the middle of the room. Everyone is shouting and jumping and Niall should feel claustrophobic as hell in this situation, but instead he just feels safe and warm and happy.

 

“You knob, why didn’t you tell me?” he shouts in the vicinity of Louis’ ear.

 

“Wanted it… to be a surprise,” Louis gasps out, a bit out of air from being squeezed so hard on all sides. Finally they break apart, though Louis still clings to Niall’s shoulders. “Harry gave me the idea, actually. Remember that day my mum and sisters came up? Harry said I was good with them and that I’d make a good teacher and, I don’t know, it just kind of clicked with me.”

 

“That’s amazing,” Niall says sincerely, pulling back enough to meet Louis’ eyes. “You’re amazing.”

 

Louis ducks his head and _yes_ , Niall did just make him blush.

 

“But I thought you wanted to do drama,” Niall says. “Wasn’t that the goal? Be a professional actor?”

 

Louis laughs. “Nah, mate, I think that ship has sailed. Might do it as a hobby though. I’ll probably join the drama club or something.”

 

Niall and Liam both groan at the same time, and Louis quirks his head at them, confused. “What?”

 

“The Spring Term Talent Show,” they say in unison, and Louis bursts out laughing.

 

“Oh, no. You know how competitive I get, Niall. I’m not going to lie, this may very well tear our relationship apart.” Niall snorts and sticks out his tongue at Louis.

 

 _Not a chance. Not letting you go anytime soon,_ he thinks, and Louis looks at him like he understands.

 

“Well, if you two break up, I get him next, right?” Liam says, pushing Louis away to wrap an arm around Niall. “We are the closest, after all.” He waggles his eyebrows atrociously at Niall, and Niall can’t help but burst into laughter. He liked the old Liam, but the new Liam is admittedly a lot more fun. Maybe Louis was good for him, too.

 

“Hey! Not a chance. I get him next,” Zayn argues. “Tell him you like me more, Niall.”

 

“Don’t be selfish, Zayn, you’ve already got Perrie. All I’ve got is a grumpy 26-year-old with a weird cat obsession. Bagsy _me_ ,” Harry says, crossing his arms and pouting outrageously at Niall.

 

“It doesn’t matter,” Louis says loudly, coming back over to wrap himself around Niall like a vine. “Because that’s not going to happen. I like this one. I’m keeping him.”

 

And Niall thinks yeah, he’s probably okay with that.

  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Drama soc wins the Spring Term Talent Show once again. Louis brings it home in his rendition of “Summer Lovin’” from _Grease_. Niall would be mad if he weren’t so damn proud of Louis. Instead, he stands on his chair and screams for an encore.

 

He’s not just proud of Louis for performing again, but also for doing amazing in his course. Turns out when Louis enjoys his work, he puts a lot of effort into it, and he gets an a training position as a teacher at a local primary school. He comes home at the end of the day with a bounce in his step, bubbling over with stories of all the cute things his kids had done that day. He’s already got a standing job offer at the primary school once he’s fully qualified.

 

Liam, Niall, Josh, and Sandy do well at the talent show too—so well that they’re actually approached by a representative from a local record company. They talk about maybe renting a studio that summer, maybe doing some recording, seeing where it goes.

 

All in all, not much has changed. Harry fits perfectly into their little group, and everyone comes over for boy’s night. They go out and they drink and they dance and Niall finds the crowds aren’t quite as scary when he has his boys around him.

 

And sometimes, he and Louis stay in and they order pizza and play FIFA and then they kiss before bed and it’s the same as it always was, except that it’s better.

 

Louis still never does the washing up, and he still leaves his socks on the table.

 

Niall and Louis sometimes fight and slam their doors and go to bed angry. Sometimes Louis forgets to be considerate, sometimes Niall gets frustrated. From time to time, they both get jealous. It happens. When it does, it’s a mess.

 

But they get it through it, together.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Well, there you go! I'm harryisbananas on Tumblr, if you want to come hang out.


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